Kimberly-Clark Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:KMB)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 10,629 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 325% compared to the average daily volume of 2,503 call options.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KMB traded down $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $100.43. 7,758,508 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,540,162. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.63. The stock has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.30. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $99.60 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 184.87% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $149.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $129.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings started coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. They issued a “hold (c+)” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.